Gun Control

The culture surrounding weapons in our country has changed dramatically since the 2nd Amendment was passed in 1791. Friends of Intelligent Democracy understands and supports the right to bear arms as a fundamental American right while recognizing the complexities of the debate on gun control.

Universal Background Checks
We support universal background checks, to ensure that those who carry weapons are responsible and non-threating to the livelihood of others. This includes limiting the ability to buy weapons for those who are mentally ill or have records of domestic abuse. Friends of Intelligent Democracy supports HR 8, which was passed in February 2019, requiring universal background checks for all firearm sales. We hope that Majority Leader McConnell will allow this bill to come to the floor of the Senate in the upcoming months.

No Fly, No Buy
We believe that if a person is on a no-fly list and has been identified as a potential threat to the American public, then it would be irresponsible to let them possess a firearm.

Assault Rifle Ban
At Friends of Intelligent Democracy, we support a complete assault weapons ban, in order to protect children, marginalized groups and everyday Americans. Assault weapons were designed to shoot mass amounts of people in a fraction of the time and in the past years, mass shootings across the country have been carried out using AR-15s, AK-47s, and other semi-automatic weapons. There is no practical use for semi-automatic weapons aside from carrying out large scale shootings, and in order to keep the American public safe, we support a ban on these weapons.

Hunting
We support the use of guns for the purpose of hunting and we recognize the 2nd Amendment as an undeniable right given to the American people. All law abiding citizens should have access to their weapons provided that they are not a threat to the public.

Guns in Schools
As young people, we have grown up in an era of mass shootings and have been dismayed by the legal inaction taken by state and federal governments. We currently live in a disappointing reality where children have to worry about staying safe rather than being able to focus on furthering their education and growing as leaders for their generation. Traumatic school shootings have impacted our lives so greatly, that not only do we support a complete weapons assault ban to mitigate the fatalities of these events, but we believe that guns have no place in schools whatsoever. Arming school security and teachers have proven to be ineffective in cases of mass shootings and disproportionately target minorities, leading to unsafe and unteachable environments. No student should feel scared in an environment that is supposed to help them thrive.